Clever.. very clever. If any state employee refused federal requests for these addresses, they would be harboring fugitives. Thank you @GovWhitmer for helping us root out the illegal population that is bankrupting us!

This Saturday, 600 more vehicle owners (and their friends and family in the vehicles) will get the opportunity to explore Belle Isle Park free of charge – courtesy of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.

The Recreation Passport giveaway begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 23, at the White House (administrative building) lawn, located at 2 Inselruhe Avenue across from the Belle Isle Aquarium. Grand Prix officials and the Department of Natural Resources will distribute the Passports (normally priced at $11 for Michigan residents) to the owners of the first 600 Michigan-registered vehicles that currently don’t have the Recreation Passport. Complimentary Recreation Passports will be distributed through 2:30 p.m. or until 600 have been given away.

The art world is buzzing, albeit quietly, about a prospective, voluntary sale of some Detroit Institute of Arts works — including an 1886 Van Gogh still life.

In the hubbub of Detroit’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy, the prospect of selling off the DIA’s collection was a key controversy. Selling even one painting to satisfy creditors or fund operations, DIA officials said then, could destroy the DIA’s standing in the museum world.

The DIA triumphed when the so-called “grand bargain” ensured the museum would remain intact last year. Instead of selling any art, the museum pledged $100 million to help the city pay down debt.

Retired [Chose not to seek re-election] Michigan Sen. Carl Levin said Monday he is joining a Detroit law firm as senior counsel and will advise businesses on government investigations.

Levin, 80, who was the longest [self]-serving senator in Michigan history after serving [occupying] six terms, will join Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP in April as senior counsel, the law firm said.

The focus of Levin’s practice at Honigman will “include aiding corporations with internal investigations and crisis management; assisting corporations with social responsibility and compliance issues; and facilitating alternative dispute resolutions and mediations.” Levin will also serve as an advisor to the firm’s Government Relations and Regulatory Practice Group.

“Our review … identified 48 of 92 [52%] expired warranty projects that needed corrective action,” the report said. “As of June 30, 2014, 24 of the warranties had been expired for over one year without MDOT having addressed the corrective action.”

MDOT said it agrees with all six recommendations made by the auditor general and is taking action to improve its system of monitoring and enforcing warranties.

“By October 2015, MDOT, in working with the Department of Attorney General, will develop a procedure for non-responsive contractors that have been notified to perform warranty work,” the department said in part of its response to the audit.

But the auditor noted that similar issues were raised in an earlier audit, released in 2010, and at that time the department said it would “strengthen its procedures to assure the completion of inspections.”

The other is if it’s one who is in the big spending Democratic Party calling for tax hikes and bogus *transportation* funding, AG Schuette will fake having a pair in the name of rah-rah go Team R nonsense. However, if it’s AG Schuette’s teammates who call for a $2,000,000,000 constitutional amendment tax hike and bogus *transportation* funding? Nope. Not so much as a peep. I know, old story. Constitution schmonstitution. It’s all just doubleplusgood speak.

“I will not tolerate companies that seek to take advantage of Michigan citizens and get rich on the backs of hard-working entrepreneurs through trickery and deception,” Schuette said in a statement.

Money quote? “Murray [a JournoList-esque hack] replied that he could not respond by this report’s deadline. Calley’s office has yet to respond.”

allah Shazam! Don’t hold your breath, Mr. Spencer, as Lt. Lapdog appears preoccupied with a family *matter*. And, as J-man, in comments, points out another issue surrounding the Republican Party’s big spending, nanny statist, corporate Nerd, well, with regard to Ruth Johnson, any future political aspirations she may have had are toast.